Multiple spun pinion bearings and gear noise.

[dk1125]

I have a 2008 sierra 1500 factory locking differential. Back in December 2016 I had rear end noise so I took it to a friend who has a service garage. Determined it was a bad pinion bearing and since It had 130,000 miles and was going to be apart I had all the bearings replaced in the rear end. A couple of 1000 miles later it was making noise again so I took it to my local dealer where I usually have my truck serviced. It turns out the carrier was bad and needed new pinion bearings again. They put in a new auto locking carrier and used the original ring and pinion gears. After I got it back the gears howl on acceleration and coasting. They have also replaced the pinion bearings 2 more times because they went bad. They also told me that there is nothing they can do about the gear noise and if I spin another pinion bearings that it must be the axle housing and I would need to replace the entire assembly. And I'm certain that I spun the pinion again. So do I try and find a used rear axle assembly or are they missing something? Thanks for your time.

[Jsdirt]

Howling in the rear is due to incorrect pinion preload, or backlash settings - anyone working on a differential should know that, and should have taken the time to set it correctly. They screwed it up! MAKE THEM FIX IT RIGHT - you shouldn't have to pay a dime for their mistakes!

 

Here is an excellent example of why I tell people NOT to have their out-of-warranty vehicles worked on at a GM dealer!

 

You need to find a competent driveline specialist that does this day in and day out. It won't be cheap, but it will be done right and last longer than the rest of the truck will. Even a small garage should have someone in there with the experience & know-how to handle this - ask around your area.

[Heavy 5.7]

Unless it's broken in half carriers don't fail. You really need to find someone that knows what they are doing.

[dk1125]

The carrier was put in a vice by the the place I took it to and compressed it to so the spider gears were hard to turn by hand. I accept that the carrier was bad and that is my fault. But how does an axle housing go bad? The dealership is trying to say that it was the other garage prying out the carrier. But it would take an extreme amount of force to mess up the bore alignment.

[silveradosid]

if the bearing cups have spun in the axle housing then its garbage